Transcribed by Wayne Kempton
Archivist and Historiographer of the Episcopal Diocese of New
York, 2008

A Priest Visiting at Merdang Gayam

Asiatic Children Betong Sarawak

Dayaks in Their Boat

Bond Street, Tai-i

The Bishop

THE CHURCH IN BORNEO.
________

THE COUNTRY

NOT counting New Guinea, the island of Borneo is the largest
of the group lying between the Continents of Asia and Australia,
and known as the East Indies or the Malay Archipelago. The area
of the island is 289,000 square miles--more than twice the size
of Great Britain and Ireland.

Two-thirds of Borneo belongs to the Dutch. The remaining third
is under British control, Sarawak and North Borneo being Crown
Colonies and Brunei being a British Protectorate. The diocese
of Borneo includes the whole island, but our church at present
only has missions within the British territories.

Though the Equator passes through Borneo the climate is remarkably
equable, and on the whole compares favourably with that of other
tropical countries. There are numerous mountains in the interior
of the island, the highest being the beautiful ridge of Mount
Kinabalu (13,500 feet). From the mountain ranges innumerable
streams flow down to the coast, swelling into magnificent rivers
which form the highways of the country, the towns and villages
being situated on their banks. Inland travelling is largely along
jungle paths, through streams and marsh land, up and down steep
hills, crossing rivers by bridges formed of tree trunks thrown
from one bank to the other.

RECENT HISTORY
________

The romantic story of the first white rajah of Sarawak--Sir
James Brooke--is now well known. Arriving at Kuching in 1839,
he was instrumental in putting down a rebellion at that time
being waged against the Malay Prince, Rajah Muda Hassim. After
long delay and troublesome negotiations, the [1/2] promise to
install Mr. Brooke as rajah was carried out in 1841. For twenty-six
years he governed the country in the true interests of the people,
suppressing piracy and head-hunting, relieving the oppressed,
and restoring order and peace among the tribes of Land Dayaks
who had been ruthlessly tyrannized over by the Malays. Sir James
was succeeded by his nephew, Sir Charles Brooke, and he in turn
by his son, Sir Vyner Brooke. The beneficent rule of the Brookes
brought peace and prosperity to a country of various races, and
the people were encouraged to take a responsible interest in
its development. In 1946 Sarawak came under the control of the
Colonial Office.

THE PEOPLE
________

The people of Borneo are of many races and languages. The
MALAYS have been in the island for many centuries; they are Mohammedans,
and the one stipulation made by the Sultan when Sir James Brooke
became rajah was that he should not interfere with the customs
or religion of the Malay people. Though not particularly hostile
to Christianity, they are but little affected by it.

A certain number of Europeans are resident in the country.
These are chiefly Government officials and their families, or
members of the staffs of the oilfields, the banks, or commercial
houses. There are also in North Borneo a small number of European
planters. Although few in number the Europeans have in some parts
of the diocese been a great strength to the Church.

Many CHINESE have settled in Borneo, largely for trading purposes.
They are industrious, thrifty and patient, and most of the business
of the country is in their hands. The Chinese speak a variety
of dialects, and it often happens that Chinese from different
provinces are unable to understand one another. There are also
TAMILS from India and Ceylon, JAPANESE and PHILIPPINOS. There
are also many jungle tribes indigenous to the country, the most
important of which are the MURUTS and DUSUNS in the north, and
the LAND DAYAKS and SEA DAYAKS in Sarawak.

The Sea Dayaks are an attractive people, both in appearance
and manners. They are warm-hearted, hospitable, unselfish, and
exceptionally intelligent. The Land Dayaks are much like the
Sea Dayaks in appearance, though they have a quieter, more thoughtful
expression, and are of singularly mild disposition.

Dayaks live in long houses which may accommodate as few as
six or as many as thirty families. Each family has a room which
serves as kitchen, living room, and bedroom for the married people.
There is a common passage and a verandah where the people sit
and work in the day, and where the unmarried men and boys sleep
at night. The missionary camps out on this verandah when he stays
in a Dayak village.

[2/3] There is a loft above the room, in which things are
stored, and where the girls and unmarried women sleep. The standard
of honesty is so high that it has never been found necessary
to fix any legal penalty for theft, and the good nature of the
Dayaks enables them to live at the close quarters resulting from
the system of long houses with a minimum of friction.

[4] The Dayaks are animists, and they live in a perpetual
state of fear of the spirits who are believed to be powerful
in every department of life. No important undertaking is entered
upon without consulting the omen of the birds, and a journey
will be given up or a new house deserted if a bird of ill-omen
is heard. Illness of almost every sort is thought to be the work
of an evil spirit, and the haunting terror of a life ruled by
omens is never far away.

The Dayaks believe in a future life, but merely one which
continues the conditions of the present life, with its toil and
suffering. The Christian message of love and freedom is a veritable
release from bondage, and there are a number of districts where
the Dayaks are begging for priests or catechists to go and teach
them.

There are two main Sea Dayak districts--that of the Batang
Lupar river, with headquarters at Simanggang, and that of the
Saribas and Krian rivers, with headquarters at Betong. In the
Batang Lupar area the Church is expanding in many directions
under the energetic and gifted leadership of the Ven. A. W. Stonton.
In 1937 the new Church of St. Luke (built to a great extent through
offerings given by the King's Messengers) was consecrated at
Simanggang. It is the largest church in the diocese, and is both
beautiful and dignified. Between four and five hundred Christians
came from far and near, many facing long, exhausting walks through
the jungle, some spending three or four days on the journey,
to show their joy in the completion of their church. All up and
down the river, and in-land for miles, little Christian centres
have been established, with their own chapels, these in turn
serving other smaller centres.

The Saribas and Krian district has four important centres--Betong,
[4/5] Debak, Saratok and Ruban,--situated thirty to fifty miles
up different rivers from the sea and connected across country
by jungle paths. In all these Dayak districts Christians often
leave home before dawn and paddle their boats up and down the
river to make their Communion in the nearest chapel at 7 o'clock.

The Land Dayak district has its headquarters at Quop. Here
for many years a Chinese priest, the Rev. Chung Ah Luk, forgetting
all racial antagonism, served the Land Dayaks and trained a young
Dayak, Si Migaat, to help him. Si Migaat was ordained after a
long testing period and has for many years worked as priest in
the Quop area.

Great advance in many directions has recently been made in
the Land Dayak Mission, under Fr. F. H. H. Howes, now stationed
at Tai-i and assisted by a young Dayak deacon. Besides three
main centres, each having its own Church and School with a catechist
in charge, there are a number, ever-increasing, of small Christian
communities to be shepherded.

Besides all this, Fr. Howes has translated a large part of
the New Testament into the vernacular and has produced text-books
for use in the schools.

NORTH BORNEO
________

Work in North Borneo is almost entirely among the Chinese
and Europeans. At Sandakan there are flourishing schools both
for boys and girls. Jesselton is the centre of an immense district
supervised by one European with the help of one Chinese priest.
The European priest not only acts as headmaster of a school for
200 boys, but also undertakes the pastoral care of this enormous
area. St. Agnes' School for girls is also doing important work
at Jesselton. The mission schools are greatly appreciated by
Chinese parents and the principals are usually faced with more
applications than they can accept.

THE CHURCH AT WORK IN BORNEO
________

The Church sent its first missionary to Borneo in 1847, at
the request of Sir James Brooke. The Rev. Francis McDougall,
who was chosen for this pioneer work, was an ideal man for the
task, and was supported in his undertaking by an ideal wife.
McDougall, who was a doctor as well as a priest, quickly won
the people's confidence [5/6] by his medical skill, and in a
few years a school, a church, and a mission house were built,
the money being provided by a committee in England. Up to 1851,
McDougall was working single-handed, taking services in English,
Chinese and Malay, doing medical work, teaching both Dayak and
Chinese children, visiting among the Dayaks, and planning to
extend the mission work to the jungle. From that time a succession
of helpers came to work in the diocese, and, home funds having
failed, the S.P.G. agreed to adopt Borneo as one of its spheres
of work.

Francis McDougall was consecrated first Bishop in 1855, and
was succeeded in turn by two able and devoted men--Bishop Chambers
and Bishop Hose--both of whom had the oversight of the Straits
Settlements as well as of Borneo. In 1909, when Bishop Mounsey
was consecrated, Singapore was made a separate see. During Bishop
Mounsey's seven years as Bishop the staff was strengthened from
England, and the Borneo Mission Association was formed, partly
to raise funds and partly to stimulate prayer and interest on
behalf of Borneo in this country.

[7] The next Bishop was Bishop Danson, and perhaps the outstanding
feature of his episcopate (1917-1931) was the progress made in
the training of Asiatic priests. Through Archdeacon Mercer's
efforts money was raised to build a college for the training
of Chinese clergy, and in 1923 the College of the Holy Way was
opened at Kudat. There five men were prepared for ordination,
each by a four-year course, 4 of whom are now working in various
stations of the diocese. It was not possible to maintain the
College as a permanent institution, and it was closed in 1930.

The short but very fruitful episcopate of Bishop Noel Hudson
(1931-1937) saw a further extension of the Asiatic ministry.
An Ordination Test School at Kuching was opened under the supervision
of the Fathers of the Community of the Resurrection, and during
the four years that the Community was at work in the diocese
two Dayak and two Chinese priests were ordained. Another Dayak,
Jamban, who had served for some time as catechist at Betong,
was made deacon in 1938 and ordained to the priesthood in 1947,
and there is good reason to hope that the Asiatic ministry will
continue to increase. These years also saw great activity in
the building of new churches, chapels and schools in every part
of the diocese. Building is only undertaken when it is demanded
by the spiritual vitality of the people, so that it may be regarded
as real evidence of progress.

The Rev. Francis Septimus Hollis was consecrated in June,
1938, having already spent twenty-three years in Borneo. He was
for ten years Principal of St. Thomas's School, Kuching, and
it is largely due to him that the school has reached its high
standard, both educationally and spiritually.

During his episcopate came the hard years of the Japanese
occupation. The Bishop, together with the Archdeacon of North
Borneo, five of the European priests and four of the women workers,
were interned. The Asian clergy were severely restricted in their
work and one of them was executed for succouring a Dutch airman
who had made a forced landing.

Of the 14 permanent churches in the diocese, all except two
were either destroyed or badly damaged and looted. Schools and
mission houses suffered to a like degree.

But the worst blow of all was the execution by the Japanese
of so many of the leading Chinese members of the Church in Sandakan
and Jesselton.

After the liberation Bishop Hollis valiantly set about reviving
the work of the Church. But increasing blindness, the result
of privation during internment, necessitated his retirement in
1948.

[8] On All Saints' Day, 1949, the Reverend Nigel Edmund Cornwall
was consecrated eighth bishop of the diocese, now renamed Borneo
instead of Labuan and Sarawak. Soon after his arrival in Kuching
he ordained the Reverend Chong En Shin to the priesthood and
Ewiim Jaboh (a Land Dayak) to the Diaconate.

It may be truly said of the diocese of Borneo "The work
is great and large." Almost limitless opportunities lie
waiting to be seized; door after door is opened, and the mission
is forced to remain inactive outside, because it has not the
men or the money to respond.

S.P.G. AND B.M.A.
________

Borneo is one of the many overseas dioceses in which the S.P.G.
is at work. To a large extent the work in Borneo owes its existence
to S.P.G., which supplies the essential funds for support of
the missionaries and other vital needs. It is backed up by the
Borneo Mission Association, which is a fellowship of people who
promise to support mission work in Borneo by their prayers and
gifts. The minimum subscription is one shilling, and all members
receive regularly the quarterly Borneo Chronicle and an
intercession paper issued with it. As a shilling hardly even
covers the cost of the Chronicle, all who can do so are
asked to subscribe a larger sum.

There are local secretaries in many parts of the country,
to whom subscriptions and donations may be paid, and from whom
the Borneo Chronicle can be obtained. A list of them will
be found on the back of the Chronicle. If there is no
local secretary, applications for membership should be addressed
to the Secretary, the Rev. C. J. Collis, Milton Abbas Vicarage,
Blandford, Dorset.